In this wide-ranging collection of lyrics, dealing with such themes as family, love, racism, and war, E. Ethelbert Miller sets his scenes against the backdrop of the stark realities of contemporary life, here and abroad. As both his love poems and political poems attest, Miller believes with full faith in the transformative powers of love and understanding. His poems on friendship and love are tender, often whimsical. His political poems are evenhanded and compassionate. As Anastasios Kozaitis comments in his introduction, Miller's poems side with hope, love and humanity. Despite his calls for prayer, Miller avoids metaphysics; he is a love poet among natural objects-a wet towel, a tube of toothpaste, a comb, a bathroom faucet, a bridge, a hat, a steering wheel and some lost keys. Like the poet, his muses also do not relent.

All nine sisters put in their time. The reader will find epic topics, historical allusions, musical references, love poems, Katharine Dunham and dance, tragic consequences of human behavior, life's comedies, songs of Bird, and even astronomical observations. On nights when we don't make love, it might be helpful to have some of E. Ethelbert Miller's alluring and captivating poems nearby. As intimate as they are seductive, come to think of it, they should be just as enticing, even on nights when we do make love.-Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory E. Ethelbert Miller was born in New York City in 1950. Author of eight collections of poetry, he is the founder and director of the Ascension Poetry Reading Series and the director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University.